I seem to have found enough material in my mind to extend this story , thus far. I foresee four more chapters.

Enjoy my lovlies.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Erik or Christine. They are the wonderful creation of Mr. Leroux – but ALW gave them depth and humanity – as did Kay. I do not own any lyrics that are used; they will be credited at the end of the chapter in which they appear.

I do however; own the plot and any original characters, which appear from the dark caverns of my mind.

Character portraits:

Erik – Gerard Butler (There is no other – not for me!)

Christine - Scarlett Johansson (with violet eyes, and a little more of a mature look)

Meckenzie - Emma Karwandy (from Butterfly on a Wheel)

Vince - Pierce Brosnan (slightly shorter)

Karen - Bette Midler (only about ten year's younger, seven inches taller, and long,brown hair)

Ms. Jennison- Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny from the latest Bond movies)

Mr. Lynch - Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly from the first X-Men movie)

All other original characters, you can use your imagination.

Enjoy.

CHAPTER 35

"Raoul is dying, Erik…he asked that I bring Meckenzie by so he could see her."

Erik could hear the trepidation in her voice and knew she was hesitant to grant him this last request.

"Dying?" Erik choked, "What is wrong?"

"Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma…" She stated, "…he refused to see a doctor until it was too late."

Erik was sure Raoul was reliving every moment of the life he had led, and realized he had come up short where Christine and Meckenzie were concerned. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.

As much as he didn't want her to see Raoul again, he had to let her do this; in fact, he had to insist she do this.

"We can postpone the wedding and you…"

"Oh no ya don't, you're not worming your way out of this one, Erik Thaddeus…I am marrying you tomorrow and that's that." Christine assured him, cutting his words off in mid-sentence.

Erik grinned, so thankful that his gut wrenching agony had been for nothing…he would have to work on his first reactions to things; he was terribly lacking in that area.

"I'm not going to take Meckenzie if she has no desire to go, I will leave that up to her…I will not force her."

"Understandable…in fact…I have an idea…" Erik stated, "…why don't I record her onto a digital video camera and you can take that to the hospital and show him, that way she doesn't have to actually meet him and he can see her."

Christine, who had been sitting in his lap the whole time, gently lulled his mouth to hers and kissed him deeply, promising him more to come after she became his wife.

"I love you, Erik Trudeau…more than you will ever be able to comprehend." She whispered.

"I love you more." He teased.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pastor Jim was a distinguished looking man with the ecclesiastical demeanor that most men of the cloth possessed. Erik was slightly uncomfortable when he first saw the man. His all-seeing hazel eyes seemed to bore through to his soul.

"Pastor Jim, this is my fiancé, Erik." Christine stated as they sat down. Meckenzie sat quietly next to Christine, but her mind was processing everything.

They shook hands and the older man sized Erik up with a sweep of those fatherly eyes.

"So Erik, Christine has told me a little bit about you, but she was not able to go into detail."

Erik shifted in his chair, but gave a hesitant smile; he felt as though he was being interrogated by Christine's dad after their first date.

"I'll be honest with you, Reverend, I have not been the most…agreeable man throughout my life – I have a rather colorful and complex past." Erik admitted.

"My goodness, son, don't we all." Jim added with a smile. "My concern is not with your past; my concern is with your future…where does God fit into your future as you enter into this marriage vow?"

Erik hung his head and gathered his thoughts. He didn't want to make the manthink him unworthy of Christine.

"I have spent the greater part of my life running from God…refusing to acknowledge His role in my life. " Erik admitted. "I often thought He had abandoned me just as my parents had."

The room was completely silent as Erik reflected on his past.

"Despite all of this, He blessed me immensely – my gift of music and architecture, I'm gifted with above average intelligence, I can do just about anything I put my mind to." He stated, with no arrogance or conceit. "But still, I was bitter and self-hating because of my face….I couldn't figure out why a God, who supposedly loved me enough to die for me, would allow such things to happen in my life."

As Jim listened, he saw in Erik a mirror image of himself, thirty years ago. He had hated God, hated life, and hated the world…drugs, booze and loose women were the only reprieve in his life for years…until he met his wife, Leslie.

After two hours of talking, praying, laughing, and crying, Erik was convinced this man was an angel from heaven.

"I'll be happy to marry you two tomorrow, unfortunately, how are you going to get a marriage license in time for the service…it's Saturday?" He asked

Erik chuckled, "I called in a few favors from some charitable work I have done and donations I have made…I have the license in my possession, I picked it up this morning." He smiled sheepishly, looked at Christine, and continued, "Actually, I called yesterday morning and was able to get it taken care of, hoping that you would agree to marry me."

Christine giggled, wondering how he had managed to get that done and still take care of her. He really was an amazing man.

"Meckenzie, how do you feel about this whole thing?" The pastor asked.

The child grinned and clapped her hands, "I am happy 'bout it!"

"That settles it…" he said, "…I'll see you two in church tomorrow, and then, we'll have a wedding."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"There is one thing I must take care of before any more time passes by." Erik announced as they drove away from the church.

Christine looked at him with questioning eyes. His features gave up no clues as to his plans, but she knew by the tone of his voice that he had something up his sleeve.

"What are you doing, Erik?" She asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing more than should be done, my dear."

They drove for about ten more minutes, and Erik pulled in front of the most elite store in downtown Boston. Christine could not determine what he was doing.

"Come on…there is something I need to purchase." He opened her door and held out his hand to help her from the car.

After Christine emerged, he opened the door for Meckenzie and helped her from the car. Then, they walked into the store much like any other family would do.

"Erik, this store is so upscale – I would never come here for anything." Christine whispered, as they passed some very expensive items.

Erik stopped and stared into her eyes, "You are going to be my wife in less than twenty-four hours…you can shop anywhere you desire…but what I am going to buy is in this store. Now, be a good girl and come with me without arguing." He instructed with mock male conceit.

Christine grinned and sidled up to him, "My, but I do like this aggressive side of you."

Erik boldly embraced her, placing his hands on her ribcage and subconsciously rubbing the sensitive spot with the pads of his thumbs. He was almost caressing the underside of her breasts – something Christine was VERY aware of.

"Come." He whispered with a sensual drawl.

Erik gave the attendee an odd look, but kept his thoughts to himself. The young man was distinctly feminine, but very well groomed and very friendly. His eyes kept following Erik; something that made him smile slightly...now he was catching the eye of gay men...his uncle would have a fun time with this one.

"Hello, my name is Gareth, is there something I can help you with?" The young man said, smiling sweetly at Erik.

Erik wrapped his arm around Christine's waist and kissed her lightly on the forehead, placing his claim on her and her claim on him. He already had Meckenzie's hand in his, so he was claiming her, as well.

"Yes, I need this woman to model several dresses for me so that I may purchase the perfect dress for her to wear to our wedding tomorrow." Erik announced, "I am also interested in purchasing winteroutside apparel for both of them."

Christine put her hands up to stop the clerk from carrying out Erik's wishes, but Erik caught her hands and brought them to his mouth for a kiss.

"Let me take care of you…I want to do this now – and for the rest of my life." He pleaded.

"Oh Erik…you dear man…" She kissed his mouth hungrily, "…I'll not stop you."

What was a woman to do? The man wanted to take care of her and her daughter with no selfish ambition or hidden agenda; he simply wanted to take care of them.

Erik grinned, bent and scooped 'Kenzie up into his strong arms and followed Gareth into the store.

Three hours later, Meckenzie was outfitted with several new dresses for church and school and some play clothes; as well as a warm winter coat, mittens, snow boots, earmuffs – everything she could possibly needfor winter and the inevitable snow.

Christine marveled at Erik's exquisite taste in clothing. The wedding dress he picked was elegant, lacy, and simply beautiful. They agreed on a champagne colored dress with silver threads and accent beads. The dress had a modified sweetheart neckline, an A-line silhouette, and a chapel length train.

Christine looked at herself in the mirror and was excited to see how the dress accented her curves and pulled the violet out of her eyes, darkening them to a deeper plum color.

"Oh Erik, it's so beautiful." She cried.

Erik approached her, wiped the tears from her eyes, and pulled her to him for a sensual hug. He could not get enough of the sight or feel of her.

He had already purchased a 100 cashmere cape with genuine fox fur trim, all in white. He bought matching gloves and Christine had never seen something so beautiful.

"I love this, buying things for you…I could become as addicted to this as I am to your presence." He whispered, brushing his warm lips against her temple.

A thrill of pure excitement ran up her spine and she felt her body react to him and her tummy had butterflies fluttering about…she could not believe how much she loved this man.

They bought matching bridal shoes and several other dresses for Christine and then they went to dinner.

He didn't let her know how much he had spent, but Christine gathered it to be around $8,000.00. The wedding dress alone was $3500.00!

They sat on her couch later that evening, talking about arrangements.

"There isn't much that I will insist on moving, most of it is second-hand." Christine stated. "Meckenzie has already stated that she only wants to take her toys and pillow."

"I'll send in a cleaning crew to dispose of those things you don't want and the rest can be donated." Erik responded. "I've already started on Meckenzie's room and the furniture is already in there. I designed it and made it full of sounds and smells for her senses to enjoy, I hope she will like it."

Christine pulled back and looked into his eyes with such adoration,"Erik, how did I get so blessed as to capture your heart?"

Erik smiled and touched his forehead to hers, "I'm the one who's blessed."

He eased into her lips and touched them tenderly with his, wanting only to taste of her nectar. Christine answered him with a quiet urgency, moving against his mouth with a soft moan.

She touched her tongue to his lips and he opened to her, pulling her closer to him as his passion began to build.

They calmly dueled, neither of them fighting the desire to taste of each other. Erik teased her lips with his own, placing soft kisses over them until she could stand it no more and again, deepened the kiss into one full of bounteous promises of things yet to come.

Erik was struggling to control his starved libido, and his hands were aching to explore her generous curves; but he fought the urge and pulled out of the kiss, breathing heavily.

"Christine, I better go…much more of this sweet torture, and I won't be held responsible for my actions." He groaned.

Christine giggled and devoured him with her hungry gaze, "You'd probably have to stop me from my actions, too."

He arose from the couch, trying to hide his burgeoning erection, and made his way to the door, holding her tight in his arms as he said good-bye.

"I'll be here at 9:00 am for church and we'll take our wedding attire, the license, and all needed items." He instructed.

"Erik, do you mind if there are other members of the church that come to the wedding?" She asked as he kissed her forehead.

"Not at all, as long as we say and do what needs to be done."

"I have a feeling that after Sunday school in the morning, there will be many couples our age wanting to come to the wedding." Christine stated, "I've only told a few people…well, that may not be entirely true…I told everyone in my Sunday school department about you."

Erik smiled and brought her hand to his for a final kiss, "Well, if that doesn't keep them away, the sight of me surely will." He said, knowing the self-insult would anger her. He turned and gave her a wicked grin and a wink, "I love you and I will see you in the morning."

TBC